As anyone who has ever been to Iowa should know, corn is one of Iowa’s staple crops. What they may not know, however, is there’s a fairly new disease in Iowa that may affect future yields called Goss’ wilt.

More than 52,800 farms in Iowa grow corn. In 2009, Iowa produced an estimated amount of 2.2 billion bushels. And of the amount Iowa produces in corn, a good chunk of it is exported.

Goss’ wilt was first recognized in Nebraska back in the 1960s. However, it has never been a real nuisance to Iowa until about five years ago. Since 2006, Goss’ wilt has slowly spread throughout the state and is now widespread throughout Iowa.

A bacterium that affects corn, Goss’ wilt can be devastating to corn yields.

“If infected early, it can really be devastating,” said Daren Mueller, program manager in the department of plant pathology and microbiology.

It comes in two phases. One phase is where the bacterium enters the vascular tissue of the plant, which causes it to wilt and then eventually die.

The second, more common phase is the leaf blight phase. In this phase, the bacterium gets into the leaf tissue and kills off big sections of it. While it affects corn of all ages, a corn plant that has been severely infected usually dies young because it is more vulnerable to other plant diseases such as corn stalk rot.

The bacterium in Goss’ wilt survive through soil and corn residue, which can be carried by the wind, thus spreading the bacterium to other places. In fact it has been reported in Canada and even as far away as India.

“Once you get it, there’s very few options,” said Jason Kolln, an account manager at Pioneer who also assists customers.

“There are no pesticides that can be used to control Goss’ wilt,” said Alison Robertson, an associate professor/extension field crops pathologist in the department of plant pathology and microbiology. “We recommend planting a tolerant hybrid and rotating to a non-host crop such as soybean.”

Why there are no pesticides that can be used against Goss’ wilt is due to its nature. A pesticide is used to fight fungi, so it would not affect Goss’ wilt, which is caused by a bacteria.

“The most important thing to do is pick high resistant hybrids,” Kolln said when asked what farmers should do to help control Goss’ wilt. He also went on to say that taking care of corn residue would help to control the spreading of the bacterium.

Although research fund for Goss’ wilt is limited, at Iowa State, the researchers have achieved quite a bit. Iowa State and University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were able to identify the risk factor, and research the bacterium diversity and how farming methods affect infection and the disease development.

Goss’ wilt is impacting everyone, not just farmers.

“Goss’ wilt can seriously impact yield.  So much of our food and fuel today comes from corn,” Robertson said.